‘Torture and degrading treatment’ — The case of Dr Abu Safiya and Gaza’s broken medical system

“Israel must immediately release Gazan doctor Dr Hussam Abu Safiya,” UN experts said in a recent statement, in unequivocal terms. Dr Abu Safiya was “subjected to torture and other cruel and degrading treatment,” they said. His health condition is “dire.” Many are already familiar with the iconic Palestinian doctor from Gaza. But the deserved and urgent focus on his case should not end with him. Rather, it should illuminate the broader catastrophe afflicting Gaza’s health sector — one deliberately dismantled as part of the ongoing genocide that began on 7th October 2023. Palestinians and others continue to refer to the genocide as ‘ongoing’. This is not hyperbole. Though the rate of killing by bombs has decreased, the genocide remains in […]